Heinz celebrates diners waiting for ketchup with global campaign

Diving overview:

• Heinz has launched “The Wait,” a global campaign celebrating consumers who wait to eat without ketchup, according to details shared with Marketing Dive. The initiative will be implemented in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Chile, France, Brazil, and the UAE.
• Created in partnership with Chilean creative agency 1984, the campaign features spots that show diners eagerly waiting for the brand’s signature condiments. The initiative includes film, print, digital, and contextual outdoor elements.
• ‘The Wait’, the latest version of Heinz’s ‘It Has to be Heinz’ platform, is inspired by Toluna’s global research of 2,706 consumers, which found that diners More than 2 of them would rather wait to eat their Heinz than without it, and 55% of them would wait even longer for their Heinz.

Dive Insight:

With ‘The Wait’, Heinz unveils its largest global marketing campaign since consolidating its global creative strategy into one platform. The initiative aims to address the “irrationality” of consumers’ perception of the company’s products by focusing on customers who wait for long periods of time, particularly the nearly 20% of Heinz fans who wait up to 10 minutes to buy condiments before starting their meal. This is the key to launching the platform’s theme of “love.”

“Nothing says ‘true love awaits’ like a hungry diner who holds off on eating until the ketchup arrives. This simple yet very real insight is the key to our latest campaign, ‘ “The Wait” was the inspiration for The Wait,” George Buneder, CMO, Hispanic Market, Kraft Heinz Company, said in a statement.

“By observing real-life behavior and turning insight into entertainment, we can celebrate the wonderful and sometimes irrational love that fans have for Heinz. Ironically, Heinz’s tomato ketchup bottle… “What makes this ad stand out is the absence of Heinz as the hero of our own story,” the executive added.

The campaign and production was developed by Chilean agency 1984, with support from Carat for paid media and Zeno Group for North American PR. 1984 founder and chief creative officer Felipe Manalich said the creative portrays waiting as an “act of love” by typically impatient consumers.

The 15-second spot depicts the titular wait time faced by diners without condiments. This media strategy is also expanding in some markets to contextual out-of-home content using digital placement in places where consumers are already waiting, such as office lobbies, elevator screens, and street furniture. It also depends on the approach.

Heinz rolled out its first unified global brand platform, “It Has to Be Heinz,” in June 2023. In the months since, the campaign has enlisted past viral stars to sell limited-edition sauces and taken a stand against overly spicy foods. Specifically, Heinz launched a limited-edition sauce called “Ketchup and Seamingly Ranch,” inspired by Taylor Swift’s viral tweet about her condiment choices at a Kansas City Chiefs football game.